§ Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will(a) give full details of Government grants to ports and (b) name the ports which received them in each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. McLoughlinPort modernisaton grants under section 12 of the Harbours Act 1964 were discontinued in 1971, and this provision was repealed by the Transport Act 1981. The Port of London (Financial Assistance) Act 1980 provided for grants to enable the Port of London Authority to reduce its labour force and restore the profitability of its undertaking. That Act was replaced by the Ports (Financial Assistance) Act 1981 which applied also to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company. From 3 July 1989, these grants have been superseded by Government contributions under the dock work compensation payment scheme. Amounts granted over the 10-year period were as follows:
£ million PLA MDHC 1980–81 23.5 — 1981–82 21.8 25.8 1982–83 31.8 56.3 1983–84 35.4 40.5 1984–85 24.4 9.4 1985–86 55.7 9.5 1986–87 20.7 4.5 1987–88 6.8 8.6 1988–89 1.5 2.9 1989–90 — —
§ Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will(a) name those ports which have received loans under the Harbour Loans Act 1972 or subsequent legislation, (b) give full details of those loans and (c) list which of those loans (i) have been repaid in full (ii) have been written off and (iii) are outstanding.
§ Mr. McLoughlinInformation is not readily available on loans that were paid off several years ago. The three last outstanding loans under the 1972 Act, made to the Clyde port authority in 1984 and 1985 and totalling £3.293 million, were paid off in 1989. Loans were also made under the Ports (Financial Assistance) Act 1981 as follows:
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Year £ million Port of London Authority 1982 13.0 1983 11.9 Mersey Docks and Harbour Company 1982 24.13 1 Balance outstanding. 2 £1.5 million written off May 1989; balance paid off.